Mechatronics Alliance expands international research network supporting companies with their Industry 4.0 challenges

The Mechatronics Alliance is a network of applied research organizations sharing expertise in view of supporting their members to innovate in preparation of the 4th industrial revolution.

The alliance, already active in Finland, Austria and Belgium broadens its horizon, welcoming the French E-TIME Institute. Laurent Tabourot, member of the E-TIME Institute comments on their ambitions to get into the alliance: “The aim is to cooperate, share expertise and join a group, which will have a much higher potential than its simple components. Together, the Mechatronic Alliance will move on to generate innovation for the enterprise network that surrounds them”.

The result is a strong research network covering 4 European countries, bringing together more than 300 companies and about 800 researchers.

In the Mechatronics Alliance, Linz Center of Mechatronics (Austria), Flanders Make (Belgium), FIMECC (Finland), and the E-TIME Institute (France) join their knowledge and forces.

Marc Engels, Operations Manager at Flanders Make, explains: “The Mechatronics Alliance offers its members access to top level knowledge and expertise gained in numerous research projects. The fact that we are growing is a proof that our lightweight cooperation model is attractive. The alliance has already realized several successful collaborations over the past 2 years and has the ambition to support its members’ transition in view of Industry 4.0.”

Recent cooperation within the alliance included joint acquisition of knowledge on indoor localization systems, a stone detection system for harvesters, computer aided architecture design of an industrial laundry machine and control algorithms for digital hydraulics.

The alliance will be participating / participated in the Manufacturing Performance Days 2015, in Finland from 8th to 10th of June.

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About Flanders Make

Flanders Make focuses on industry-driven technological research and innovation together with and to the benefit of companies in the Flemish manufacturing industry. The research focus is on mechatronics, methods for developing products and technology to make them. This will, as a first step, yield product and process innovations in 3 fields of application: vehicles, machines and factories. Flanders Make also attaches great importance to international cooperation in the field of innovation and to participation in European research projects. By 2018, more than 300 researchers will work full-time at Flanders Make as a unique research community on a joint industrial research agenda. The Flemish government supports Flanders Make financially with a basic funding amounting to 8.4 million Euro per year as of 2014, combined with once-only impulses from SALK, EFRO and ‚Competitiviteit‘ amounting to 16.5 million Euro for funding targeted research. Flanders Make has establishments in Lommel, Diepenbeek and Leuven and at the 5 Flemish universities: KU Leuven, Antwerp University, Gent University, Hasselt University and the Free University of Brussels. More information: www.flandersmake.be

About Fimecc

FIMECC Ltd. is the strategic centre for science, technology, and innovation in metal products and mechanical engineering industries in Finland. FIMECC leads its’ stakeholders to cross-disciplinary and cross-industry innovation through internationally open public-private research platform. FIMECC shortens time-to-market by joining the resources and innovativeness of globally leading companies and research institutes in precompetitive research. FIMECC research portfolio in 2015 is over 70M€. We boost strategic research – together. More information: www.fimecc.com

About Linz Center of Mechatronics (LCM)

LCM is partner for research and development of new as well as for enhancement of existing technical products, systems and processes. LCM support their customers, national as well as international production plants, from first concepts and feasibility studies up to the market launch. LCM infrastructure allows for production of prototypes and small lot sizes. The specific know-how of the employees of LCM in the different fields of Mechatronics is LCM`s basis for technical and scientific cooperation. LCM`s hard- and software solutions enable LCM to create systems, products and processes of the next generation for and together with their customers. More information: http://wordpress.p378378.webspaceconfig.de/en/

About E-TIME (European Technical Institute of Mechatronics)

E-TIME (European Institute of Mechatronics) will offer businesses and project leaders with mechatronic skills in basic research, industrial research, experimental development as well as strategic and managerial support in innovation and the transfer of experience to achieve operational goals.

This place of cross-fertilization between academic, industrial and institutional worlds aims to develop the expertise in Industrial Mechatronics.

Via national and European partnerships and networks, expertise in and access to the most cutting edge skills are also a priority. More information: http://etime-mechatronics.eu/

Mechatronics Alliance at the Manufacturing Performance Days 2015

In Tampere, Finland the Mechatronics Alliance is presenting their know-how at the Manufacturing Performance Days 2015 (MPD). The MPD is a seminar for manufacturing industries, researchers and technology and service providers worldwide. This event will bring together more than 500 international experts and academia to discuss and represent industrial best practices and operational excellence, novel business concepts as well as scientific and technological breakthroughs. This year the topic of the event is, True Competiveness, which should bring answers to the questions of true competiveness and resilient manufacturing.